Floods in Philippines have already killed around 130 people and government officials are blaming environment officials for the tragedy. Meanwhile, 83 people perished in flood-related accidents in the capital Manila, its suburbs and several northern provinces, some of which are still underwater. Rescuers have dug up six more bodies from the rubble of the Cherry housing project in the hill town of Antipolo, where 47 people died in a landslide. Jesus Crispin Remulla, who is heading the investigation into the Cherry Hills tragedy, said housing and environment officials were to blame.
The Filipino-Japanese housing project had not been issued an environmental clearance certificate for the project and its engineers had failed to conduct a geological study of the area, said Remulla. However, he added, "72 hours is not enough to come up with a fair assessment of the probable culpability of the government officials."
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